The Eagles' weapon in the run game no one ever talks about

Casual Eagles fans might not even know his name.

He barely touches the football. And you might be shocked to know that he’s been on the field for over 43% of the Eagles’ offensive snaps in the last couple of weeks.

But none of that changes the fact that Jack Stoll has become an absolute weapon for one of the top rushing offenses in the NFL.

“He gets a lot of the dirty work at the tight end position,” Dallas Goedert said, “but he embraces it and the last two weeks, he’s a big part of the reason we’ve been able to run the ball so well.”

In the last two games — wins over the Vikings and Buccaneers — the Eagles have rushed for a combined 460 yards. And 218 of those yards (5.1 yards per carry) have come with at least two or three tight ends on the field.

Through three games this season, Stoll has played 81 total snaps (36%) but in the last two he’s played 68 and has been on the field for 43.3% of the offense’s plays. On Monday night, Stoll got his first two targets and his first catch of the 2023 season.

All those other snaps? He’s just blocking his butt off.

“It’s awesome to have an offense that trusts the tight ends out there,” Stoll said. “Go out and do everything we can. It’s a great feeling. We’ll just keep building on it.”

Stoll, 25, is in his third year in the NFL and this is his second full season as the No. 2 tight end. He’s played in a total of 36 games in his career, with 18 starts, and has just 16 catches. But there’s a reason the Eagles have kept him in that second tight end role and it’s because they trust him as a blocker.

Here’s a list of the top four run-blocking tight ends in the NFL right now, according to ProFootballFocus:

1. PHI - Dallas Goedert (90.0)
2. DAL - Jake Ferguson (80.0)
3. SFO - George Kittle (75.0)
4. PHI - Jack Stoll (73.2)

While the offensive line obviously deserves a ton of credit for the Eagles’ success running the football — they’re the No. 2 rushing offense in the NFL — the top two tight ends have meant a ton.

Over the last two weeks, the Eagles have been in 12 personnel (two tight ends) on 36% of their offensive snaps and have been in 13 personnel (three tight ends) on another 8% of their snaps.

Nick Sirianni pointed at matchups as the main reason why.

“Sometimes you go into a game, and like you said, you see an advantage that you can take advantage of when you go into a game,” Sirianni said. “We're really confident when it's 11 personnel with the five skill guys on the field. We're confident when it's 12.

“You may be taking a player off the field that you have a lot of confidence in, but you're replacing him with another guy you've got a lot of confidence in.”

Over the last two weeks, the Eagles’ most productive personnel group in terms of EPA per play (.20) has been 12 personnel. After three games, the Eagles have been in 12 personnel for 27.8% of their snaps after using it on 21% of their offensive snaps last season.

The guy the Eagles are putting on the field in that package is Stoll, who has certainly earned that trust. And in his third season after going undrafted out of Nebraska, Stoll continues to grow as a blocker.

“He’s a grimy guy,” Goedert said. “He gets in there, he puts his head where he needs to be. He focuses on the detail of the block. And he prides himself, like the rest of the tight ends, on not letting our guy make the play.”

Goedert pointed out the biggest evolution in Stoll’s game as a blocker is what he does beyond his assignment. Obviously, the first thing Stoll is supposed to do on any play is to take care of his man, but Goedert said Stoll is now able to clean up other players on defense too.

So Stoll will take care of his guy and then look for more work. Stoll explained that seeing the Eagles’ offensive linemen take that mentality has rubbed off on him. And it helps him to understand when he should look for more action in the blocking game.

“I think it’s just a blue collar mindset,” Stoll said. “Trying to find work wherever you can.”

Even though Stoll did have a nice six-yard grab on the sideline in Monday night’s game, catching passes isn’t a huge part of his role. In fact, that one almost felt like a little reward for a job well done.

In his career, Stoll has averaged less than half a catch per game. But in an offense that features A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, Dallas Goedert and more, he knows his role. And he’s OK with it.

“Listen, whenever you’re an undrafted guy, just being on a team, on a 53, you’re lucky enough to be on a 53, let alone playing on offense or defense or special teams or whatever it is,” Stoll said. 

“I think the biggest thing is keeping that in perspective. And just being out there helping the team go get wins regardless of how it is. That’s enough for me, for sure.”

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